In a further milestone for the Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) program, the two halves of the first of class ship, Arafura, built by Luerssen Australia and its partner ASC have been brought together and welded to form a complete hull.
In what was the largest block move in the history of the Osborne Naval Shipyard and a considerable engineering feat, Australian Naval Infrastructure’s (ANI) operations team manoeuvred the two mega-blocks together, with only millimetres between them.
Australian Department of Defence
May 5, 2020
For our special report on the new build OPV within the overall approach of Australian to new build ships, see the following
A Small Ship with a Big Impact: The Aussies Work the Integrated Distributed Force